Thursday, August 18, 2011

Bisons manager Tim Teufel got quite the surprise last night when he stepped up to home plate to exchange line-up cards with Toledo manager Phil Nevin.

“It kind of leaked out at home plate, Phil was kind enough to tell me when we were passing out the line-up cards that he had a pitching change,” Teufel said. “So I said, ‘well who’s the pitcher?’ and he goes, ‘some guy name Toyful or Teefull.’ And I said stop messing around with me and he told me, ...

The question around town is why Betemit can’t consistently get into the starting lineup despite batting .316 since the trade? Here are some haunting numbers. Betemit has been rested the same amount of games by Leyland in 28 games as he rested Inge in 78 games. Once again, Betemit’s batting average is about 140 points higher.

Let me be the first to warn you folks who study the Tigers lineup like the back of your hand. Wear a baseball cap for ...

Francoeur has long been a favorite of Royals general manager Dayton Moore, the Royals’ general manager who started his career in the Braves system, like Francoeur. And not only that, he’s fit in well with the Royals, who have been the darling of many for their talented minor league system, but his eventual replacement, Wil Myers, is still just 20 years old and seen his numbers drop a bit at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. The best-case scenario is Myers coming up sometime in 2013 and Francoeur to ...

Mike Jacobs, a first baseman with the Colorado Rockies organization who has played for the Mets, is the first baseball player to test positive for the banned drug human growth hormone and will be suspended by Major League Baseball on Thursday, according to a person briefed on the matter.

Jacobs provided the blood sample over the past few months and that sample was sent to a drug testing lab at U.C.L.A., which is accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Scientists ...

Question: Were those wall-dividing pads added after the Kauffman Stadium renovations?

The Yankees believed that home run balls had to clear the chain-linked portion of the fence, essentially considering this to be the upper boundary of the outfield wall. Umpires apparently ruled that the ledge of the main fence was the upper boundary of the wall. Because Butler’s drive hit the ledge—which is what replays confirmed—umpires ruled the drive a home run.

This being the era of instant communication, even before the last out was recorded, the tweets began chirping and the chat rooms buzzed with speculation that Mayberry could or should replace Raul Ibanez as the regular leftfielder for the rest of the season.

Three words: Not. Gonna. Happen.

...Which is why the Phillies aren’t going to bury Ibanez. For one thing, Manuel has too much respect for him. For another, it’s not how ...

It’s hard to believe the Los Angeles Angels will continue to watch baseball’s worst-hitting offense since the All-Star break drag this team out of a pennant race. At some point, don’t they reach for a knife and cut the cord?

How much longer can they field a National League lineup playing in the American League? It’s as though their pitchers have to hit while other teams get the advantage of a designated ...

Last night the boys were all seated in the hotel lobby. All was quiet for a moment, then [Claude] Hendrix turned to [Rebel] Keene and said: “Tell us of the greatest game you ever played.”

Keene likes to talk and he launched out on his subject with fervor…Not a murmur was heard from the crowd until “Rebel” was reaching the climax. Then [Elmer] Steele groaned. Hendrix laughed, and the whole bunch yawned, stretched, got up and walked away, leaving Keene right ...

The Royals avoided a three-game sweep Wednesday night by escaping with a 5-4 victory over the New York Yankees at Kauffman Stadium.

Make that ESCAPE. Capital letters.

Joakim Soria concluded a 40-pitch ninth inning by striking out Jorge Posada with the bases loaded after nearly — but not quite — blowing a two-run lead.
...
“He got up to 40 pitches,” manager Ned Yost said, “and you start to worry if he’s getting gassed. But the thing about Jack is you know he has that ability to ...

Pitching for the Hagerstown Suns of the Class A South Atlantic League, Strasburg was rocked for four hits — three of them doubles to the wall — and five earned runs by the visiting Lexington Legends while recording just five outs, three of them by strikeout. Three runs had already scored and 25 pitches had left Strasburg’s hand before he recorded his first out of the game.
...
Strasburg’s velocity was fine, as his fastball sat at 96 to 98 mph and touched 99 mph at least once on the ...

Greinke won his fifth straight start and Jerry Hairston Jr. singled in two runs to lift the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night for their 19th victory in 21 games.
...
Greinke, the 2009 AL Cy Young winner, scattered five hits and struck out eight over seven innings to lower his ERA to 1.57 over this five-game winning streak.

“It wasn’t a great outing, but I made big pitches when they needed to be made,” Greinke said.

For the first time ever, a Marlins starter gave up more than 10 runs in a game. The Rockies logged 11 runs on 11 hits off [Ricky] Nolasco on their way to a series-clinching 12-5 victory. Not all the Marlins history was negative. Mike Stanton matched the club record by homering in his fourth straight game.

The Rockies batted around in both the first and third innings, scoring five and six runs, respectively. Carlos Gonzalez capped the six-hit third with a three-run homer to left. Not all of the ...

The Atlanta Braves are bringing back infielder Wes Helms, signing him to a minor league deal less than a week after he was released by the Florida Marlins.

The Braves said Wednesday that Helms will report to Triple-A Gwinnett this weekend and likely join the Braves when the rosters are expanded Sept. 1 to provide another right-handed bat off the bench.
...
Also, Atlanta activated right-hander Jair Jurrjens from the disabled list to start against the San Francisco Giants. Right-hander Randall ...

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

If you think Yankee Nation has been in deep distress and debate lately over the investment return from pitcher A. J. Burnett, imagine what awaits Rodriguez all the way through 2017 if his physical decline continues at the rate it has been going.

There was hip surgery in 2009, a visit to the disabled list last season for a calf injury and this year’s breakdown to go along with eye-opening drop-offs in power numbers. Is it a stretch to imagine a day when Rodriguez’s 10-year deal that could ...

So even while Hannahan was at bat in the game, Speed booked the first flight in the morning . . . back to Cleveland, even knowing that would likely be too late. His next step was calling about private planes. They were available, but they cost $35,000 . . . seven percent of his annual salary—that’s a lot of money on a gamble that it would be the night Jenny gave birth.

At some point after the game, teammate Justin Masterson asked Hannahan what was happening and as soon as Hannahan ...

Sammy Sosa knows all about life after baseball, and planned on reaching out to Carlos Zambrano to remind him that once you retire, “it’s a whole different ballgame.”

Sosa, 42, who played 18 seasons in the Major Leagues, including 1992-2004 with the Cubs and was a teammate of Zambrano’s for his final three seasons with the club, said Wednesday he planned on calling the Cubs pitcher, who is currently on the disqualified list. Zambrano served up five home runs to the Braves last Friday in ...

Bridgehampton, N.Y., out on the East End of Long Island, is Red Sox territory. The bars along Main Street are decked out in red and will only show Yankees games if there’s nothing else on. TVs receive the Hartford network affiliates. Carl Yastrzemski was born on a nearby potato farm and still holds a handful of records at the town’s high school. Bridgehampton, you might say, sits beyond the Evil Empire’s borders.

In 2008, Tracy and Kevin Carey began selling caps and t-shirts emblazoned with ...

Teams won on the last at-bat in 10% of games this season — 181 games overall — entering Tuesday, the highest percentage since 1987, according to research by USA TODAY and Baseball-Reference.com. There had already been 51 walk-off homers this year, compared with 33 in 1993 when [Dennis] Eckersley originated the term, walking off the mound after a defeat.

LLWS:
The Little League World Series starts tomorrow. Schedule and TV listings are at the link above. If you are filling out a bracket (and if you ARE filling out a bracket, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU THESE KIDS ARE 12 YEARS OLD), it could be difficult this year, as the opening games of the double-elimination tournament seem pretty balanced, with the exception of Venezuela vs. the Netherlands (but then again, maybe young Honkballers are just as Cinderella as adult ones).

A follow-up from North of the Border on the whole idea of game in B.C. Place.

The stadium is undergoing a $563 million renovation for a Sept. 30 reopening and its floor and lower bowl will remain convertible for baseball. But Major League Baseball needs to approve the new centre-hung, high definition scoreboard. The giant video “shoebox” will be suspended from the housing for the retractable roofing fabric.

“We have asked MLB for a ruling on the scoreboard and required height but as yet we ...

PITTSBURGH—Class AA Springfield righthander Shelby Miller, the crown jewel of the Cardinals’ farm system as the team’s top pick in the 2009 draft, has been suspended indefinitely by the organization, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said tonight

...

According to several sources familiar with the situation, the incident in question involved an altercation at a Springfield apartment complex with alcohol also being involved. This is believed to be the second such instance for the ...

Because Cincinnati fans are no different from fans anywhere, many would like to run Baker out of town. And in truth, this hasn’t been Baker’s finest job. His light touch kept players such as Bruce and Stubbs relaxed last season. The pair responded by playing well in September.

Baker had ample clubhouse help last season from veterans Scott Rolen, Arthur Rhodes and Orlando Cabrera. This year, Cabrera and Rhodes are elsewhere and Rolen ...

Screw Sabermetrics! More pics of Flush Flaherty in Triathlong-johns…while every other MLB package team is showing/talking Thome’s 600th HR!

Last night, John Flaherty said something that, at the very least, bordered on willful ignorance. After the results of the Toyota Text Poll were revealed, the booth was having a conversation about the stats used–BA/HR/RB/R–in the poll. David Cone, of course, wondered where WAR was and mused about defense and runs created. Flash would have none of it.

Baseball lifers like me who are looking down the barrel of our Biblical three score years and ten, or can still see 70 in the rear view mirror (an awkward age), can particularly enjoy Congdon’s treatment of the fifties, baseball’s golden age, and pretty golden in other ways as well.

Baseball was golden in the fifties because so much attention was focused on this sport ...